Kvitova battles back, Wozniacki eliminated in Paris

Paris, France (SportsNetwork.com) - Petra Kvitova struggled, but won her second-round match Thursday at the French Open. Caroline Wozniacki was not as fortunate.

Kvitova hasn't had much success on the famed red clay at Roland Garros, with five losses prior to the quarterfinals in six previous appearances. She needed three sets to win her first-round match on Tuesday and again went the distance Thursday.

The two-time Wimbledon champ survived with a 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Spain's Silvia Soler-Espinoza to advance to the third round. Despite her troubles in the French capital, the fourth-seeded Kvitova did enter this year's second major with some solid results on the slow surface, winning the Madrid Open before a quarterfinal appearance in Rome.

Next up for Kvitova will be Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu, who rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Croatia's Ana Konjuh.

Wozniacki has struggled even more than Kvitova in Paris and again made an early exit with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) loss on Thursday against Germany's Julia Goerges.

The fifth-seeded Dane has been past the third round only once in nine visits to Roland Garros -- a quarterfinal result in 2010. She was a first-round loser last year and departed in the second round in 2013.

Goerges, who has never advanced beyond the fourth round in any of her previous 28 Grand Slam events, will play American Irina Falconi in the third round. Falconi advanced Thursday with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Bulgaria's Sesil Karatantcheva.

Other early winners Thursday included 10th-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany and Italian 17th seed Sara Errani. Petkovic rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino and will next play Errani, who also needed three sets to dispose of Germany's Carina Witthoeft, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Two-time champion Serena Williams is also scheduled for action on Thursday against Germany's Anna-Lena Friedsam.